cast this temptation in the way of their brethren, or to risk the possibility of thus planting thorns in the breasts of those whom poverty has placed within their power, and lowering the moral character of the order to which they themselves belong.

Their own characters cannot escape from the corrupting influence of the false position they have condescended to occupy. Who can doubt that it is the intention of the government, in granting this money, to weaken and pervert the dissent of this self-constituted commission of London ministers, and make them instruments in supporting the church from which they are separated. That intention is fulfilled. It cannot but be fulfilled. It is impossible for them to resist the influence which is thus exerted. We are convinced, that if they had not stood in the relation to the government in which they do stand, what has lately been published in the names of some of them, never would have appeared. In any other connexion, they would have been ashamed of the kind of arguments they have used. They could not have written and said what they have done, on the voluntary principle. Their respect for logic as well as liberty, would have rebelled against the attempt. It is pitiful to see them thus damaging their characters,-their intellectual characters, in deference to the subordinate situations they occupy toward the minister of the day; and we entreat them, in all kindness, for their own sakes, to come out, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing.'

Brief Notices.

Mosheim's Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modern. A new and literal Translation from the Original Latin, with copious Additional Notes, Original and Selected, by James Murdock, D.D. Revised, and Supplementary Notes added, by James Seaton Reid, D.D. 8vo. pp. 904. London: Simms and M'Intyre.

A NEW translation of Mosheim's Institutes, has long been called for. Dr. Maclaine's version was known to be defective in many important respects. His own confession was sufficient to prove the little reliance that could be placed on it. I have sometimes,' he says in his preface, taken considerable liberties with my author, and followed the spirit of his narrative without adhering strictly to the letter; and have often added a few sentences to render an observation more striking, a fact more clear, a portrait more finished.' Whoever will

be at the pains of comparing this translation with the original, will see, as Dr. Murdock remarks, 'that he has essentially changed the style, and greatly coloured and altered in many places the sentiments of the author.' The work is thus rendered heavy and tedious, and in many places obscure and indefinite.' Its credibility as a history is also impaired, and opinions have been foisted on the author, for which the translator alone was responsible.

Such being the case, we are thankful to Dr. Reid for having declined the proposal of Messrs. Simms and M'Intyre, to edit a cheap edition of Maclaine's version. He wisely directed their attention to Dr. Murdock's excellent translation, which had recently appeared in the United States, and they prudently adopted his suggestion. The result is the volume before us, which we have great pleasure in introducing to our readers. It is a real addition to the theological literature of the day, and must consign our six volumes to immediate and absolute neglect. We hope our publishers stock of Maclaine's edition is small, for no ecclesiastical student who has any regard to the accuracy of his scholarship, will henceforth give it a place in his library. Dr. Reid has followed the first American edition, so far as the fourth century, and that of 1845 in the subsequent periods of the history. I have ventured,' he says, 'to revise the translation in various places, either to bring it closer to the original text, or to correct a few inaccuracies of style.' Some lengthy documents elsewhere accessible, and some details of minor interest, have been omitted, in order to the work being comprised within the compass of a single volume. The translation itself is close and literal, containing neither more nor less than the original, and presenting the exact thoughts of the author in the same direct, artless, and lucid, manner. * * * The translator, it is added, 'has aimed to give Mosheim, as far as he was able, the same port and mien in English as he has in Latin.' This is as it should be, and we rejoice that a work long needed, h a been at length so faithfully executed.

The American translator, and his English editor, have added a large body of valuable notes, which are carefully distinguished, and an extended index is supplied. We thank Dr. Reid, and the publishers, for the service they have rendered, and congratulate the theological students of our country, and all who are interested in the researches of church history, on the justice at length done to the invaluable Institutes of Mosheim. The cheapness of this edition places it within the reach of all, and we need not say that it should have an immediate place in every theological library.

Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1849. By the Hon. Mrs. Norton. London: Peter Jackson.

THE Drawing Room Scrap Book' makes its appearance this year in its usual holiday garb, reminding us that the season of family and social festivity is at hand. It wears a somewhat solitary character, being unaccompanied by its numerous former gay associates, who have ceased

to prefer their claim to public favour and support. We do not regret the disappearance of the class. They were very beautiful, but nothing more, and for a time took the place of other and more instructive works. We love the dulce when mingled with the utile, but soon tire of the former alone. Their union is pleasing, but such a wholesale attempt to dissociate them as we have recently seen, is open to very serious objections. We introduce, however, this highly ornamented volume to our readers with pleasure, in the confident expectation that it will afford amusement and gratify taste now that the singing of birds is gone.' Though the age for these toybooks has passed, the volume under our eye is as attractive, as splendidly bound, as elaborately illustrated, and its typography is as beautiful as any of its predecessors. Mrs. Norton, who appears again as the editor, has among her contributors, the Hon. Edmund Phipps, Lord Viscount Melbourne, R. Monckton Milnes, Mrs. Coningham, and Charles Swain. We look in vain among their productions, with very few exceptions, for the higher efforts of the muse, yet confess that the perusal of 'The Voice of the Fountain,' 'Strafford Blest by Laud,' Enamoured Days,' 'Dryburgh Abbey,' and some others, has afforded us much gratification. The engravings, which are thirty-six in number, as in former instances, are not original, but possess many attractions. Among those of the greatest merit may be mentioned, 'Queen Henrietta interceding for the Life of Charles the First,' 'A View of the Place de la Concorde, Paris,' and 'Cromwell conferring with the Lawyers.'

A Tour in the United States. By Archibald Prentice. London:

Charles Gilpin.

WE have read this small volume with very considerable pleasure. Attracted to it by the name of its author, we have found it just the book that was needed. Free from ostentation, it is written in a perspicuous and manly style, bears throughout the strong impress of good sense and honesty, deals more largely with facts than many bulky volumes, and leaves upon its reader a clearer and better defined impression of the character of the American community, than is commonly derived from English tourists. Those who know Mr. Prentice will have full confidence in his reports, while others are furnished, in his own pages, with the means of easily testing his statements. There is scarcely a topic connected with the States, on which English readers are desirous of information, that he has not elucidated; and the whole is written with such good feeling and transparent sincerity as to command a more than usual measure of confidence. The religious apparatus furnished, the commercial doctrines held, the influence of slavery and the prospects of abolition, the working of republican institutions, and the character and social habits of the people, are illustrated in brief and apposite language. Full justice is done to the parties described, while an independent judgment is exercised in pointing out the defects,

whether theoretical or practical, which present themselves to an intelligent observer. The size of the volume, as already intimated, is small. A brief tour,' remarks Mr. Prentice, 'needs but a brief record.' We wish that other authors had remembered this fact. Had they done so, we should have been spared much wearisome reading and loss of time. In the present case the quality is good in proportion as the quantity is small, and its authority will not be diminished on this account. There is an entire absence of all the arts of authorship, and we warmly commend the volume to the acquaintance and confidence of our readers.

Commentary on the Psalms. By E. W. Hengstenberg, Doctor and Professor of Theology, in Berlin. Vol. III. Translated by the Rev. John Thomson, and Rev. Patrick Fairbairn. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark.

THIS Volume, constituting the twelfth, of Clark's Foreign Theological Library, will receive a hearty welcome from a numerous class. It completes the translation of a work of sterling merit, and exceeds considerably the ordinary size of the series. The translation, as far as the cxxvith Psalm, is by Mr. Thomson, and the remainder by Mr. Fairbairn. Their labours are entitled to great respect; and we trust that the theological students of the country will duly appreciate and reward them. It is needless to speak of Hengstenberg. We rather congratulate the rising ministry on the ready access now afforded to the best productions of the German school. It was not always so. Their seniors were destitute of these advantages, and we, therefore, look for a proportionate improvement in their elucidations of Holy Writ. The present day eminently requires the combination of sound scholarship and strong sense, with evangelical views and deep devotion. There is no incompatibility in these, whatever timid religionists may allege. Let us have as much of the former as possible, without impairing the simplicity, or diminishing the fervour of the latter. We thank the Messrs. Clark for the direction of their enterprise, and emphatically recommend their series to every minister and theological student. It will be a lasting disgrace to the class, if the Foreign Theological Library does not receive a generous support.

Belgium, The Rhine, Italy, Greece, and the Shores and Islands of the Mediterranean. Illustrated in a series of beautifully-executed Engravings. With Historical, Classical, and Picturesque Descriptions. By the Rev. G. N. Wright, M.A., and L. F. A. Buckingham, Esq. London: Peter Jackson.

THIS beautiful volume, the engravings of which are exceedingly rich and chaste, combines the attractions of the Annual with the information of the traveller. Considering the immense number of

tourists who annually visit the Continent in search of novelty and of the picturesque, and the multiplicity and variety of Letters,''Journals,' and other books issued by them, on their return, we are somewhat surprised at the bold experiment of the publisher of this work. The authors of the literary portions of the volume have been eminently successful in collecting important illustrative information, which is so arranged as to throw a pleasing light over the scenery, architecture, habits, and history of the countries described. Their descriptions are at once adapted to please the lover of beautiful scenery, to inform the student, and to gratify the taste of the classical reader. The aim of the volume is to give condensed information respecting those places which are most worthy the notice of the tourist of Belgium, the Rhine, Italy, Greece, and the Mediterranean. It differs from ordinary books of travels, by availing itself of the adventures and experience of other tourists, for the special benefit of stayers-at-home. The readers of the volume will be disappointed, if they expect to find in its pages ardour of enthusiasm or warmth of feeling. Messrs. Wright and Buckingham make no pretensions to such qualities. On the contrary, they have imposed restraints on their imagination, and are wisely content to prove their possession of other attributes far more necessary to the successful compilation of such a work. The volume contains seventy-three exceedingly interesting and beautiful engravings, executed with admirable truth and spirit, by Messrs. Allom, Bartlett, Leich, Wolfensberger, and many others. We have been particularly pleased with 'The Pantheon at Rome,' The Church of St. Bavon,' 'Misitra, near Sparta,''The Chamber of Representatives,' at Brussels, and the Cathedral at Palermo;' while on the banks of the lovely Rhine, are charming views of Rheinfels,'' Oberwesel,' Bacharach,' 'Coblentz,' and Ehrenbreitstein.' We cannot do better than close our notice in the words of Byron, suggested by the latter portion of this scenery :

But thou exulting and abounding river,

Making thy waves a blessing as they flow

Through banks whose beauty would endure for ever,
Could man but leave thy bright creation so,

Nor its fair promise from the surface mow,

With the sharp scythe of conflict.'

The Journal of Sacred Literature. No. IV. October, 1848. Editea by John Kitto, D.D., F.S.A. London: C. Cox.

WE are glad to see the fourth number of this journal on our table, and cannot bring ourselves to believe that it will fail to secure sufficient patronage to place its continuance beyond question. Knowing, however, something of the difficulties attendant on periodical literature, we are not without apprehension, and therefore counsel all friends of the Journal to bestir themselves to the utmost. It is no